Grading the States introduction THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT Report Card: Mississippi GOVERNOR Ronnie Musgrove (Democrat, elected 1999) LEGISLATURE House — 86 Democrats, 33 Republicans, 3 independent Senate — 34 Democrats, 18 Republicans FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: B Mississippi’s books are in pretty good structural shape. The state budgets only 98 percent of revenues, and has a nicely filled rainy day fund equal to about 7.5 percent of appropriations. Revenue estimates have been fairly accurate in recent years, although they have slipped a bit the past two cycles, with less money coming in than projected. Debt management has been improved through an annual report, about both general obligation and revenue debt, delivered to the legislature. Better information in legislative hands is intended to help leaders prioritize projects and weed out bonds that were authorized but never issued. Unfortunately, the state still doesn’t provide this kind of information about capital leases and other debt-like instruments. Despite the currently sound conditions, potential fiscal problems lie ahead. Mississippi has committed to major increases in teacher pay, and also faces the risk of unbudgeted Medicaid growth. These commitments might be hard to meet in the event of an economic downturn. CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: C Mississippi’s transportation department got caught in a money crunch last year. Unusually warm weather sped up construction on the state’s $4.7 billion four-lane highway program. You’d think that would be a good thing, but it left little funding for other necessary construction. This hasn’t been the only problem with the highway project. A legislative review found that the project’s ultimate cost will be about $5 billion, up from the original estimate of $1.6 billion, and that the first three phases will be finished more than six years late. Maintenance is Mississippi’s stumbling block on the facilities side. The state estimated repair needs of almost $163 million for fiscal 2001, but funded only about $44 million. What’s more, the state lacks a plan for funding major renovations as well as systems for tracking maintenance and inventory. On the positive side, Mississippi’s capital planning process for facilities is becoming more credible. In the past, money for facilities maintenance has tended to go to the agencies with the best lobbyists, not the ones with the greatest need. Now the legislature and the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property have teamed up to assess agency needs and project priorities. Another plus: Last year, the legislature passed a law requiring all future projects exceeding $1 million to carry with them operating and maintenance cost calculations at the start of the process. HUMAN RESOURCES: B- Over the course of the past few years, Mississippi has taken several steps to provide flexibility in its hiring process. It has moved away from a focus on arbitrary education and experience requirements for new employees, and toward a reliance on skills and general competence. Now it is trying to cut back on the use of testing as well. Most recently, the state gave up testing for workers in its correctional facilities, a source of many low-paying jobs with high turnover rates. There was some initial concern about a loss of employee quality, but research indicated that in the past, tests had weeded out only a small percentage of weak applicants. Now the Department of Corrections evaluates candidates itself and hiring is far more rapid. Mississippi has made a number of improvements to supervisory training and added forums to help managers deal with legal issues. But, says the state’s personnel director, “I don’t think that we spend the resources we need to maintain the work force of the future. That’s an area we need to look at.” They might also want to do a little more for the work force of the present. The legislature stiffed state employees out of pay raises last year; not a good plan for maintaining worker satisfaction. MANAGING FOR RESULTS: D+ After a good start in the early 1990s, Mississippi’s managing-for-results efforts have been at a dead stop for the past several years. The Musgrove administration has an MFR infrastructure to work with, but it’s an infrastructure that has yet to be built upon. For example, although the state requires strategic plans from its agencies, along with performance measurements, the effort has not been a high priority. As one official explained, “We gather the information and we do look at it on occasion, and we do file it.” Targets are incorporated in the strategic plans, says budget analyst Priscilla Ware, but “they’re just targets you anticipate doing anyway; targets you know you’re going to meet.” The one bright spot here is the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Committee, which evaluates and oversees agencies. Its reports are thorough and taken seriously in the state. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: C+ There’s significantly more top-level IT interest here than there used to be, thanks to the new administration. “I have had more one-on-one meetings with this governor in the first 10 months of his term,” says the state’s CIO, “than I had with the last governor over the eight years of his term.” One major initiative has been electronic access to government and services. Although the state is currently far from a leader in online transactions — and its Web site is nothing to boast about — Mississippi is releasing an RFP for an online portal that should make such transactions far easier. The state’s network has been a catalyst for other good applications. It provides data and video services to all universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, libraries and state agencies across the state. Mississippi still has limited data sharing between agencies, however, and improvements there are another item on the agenda. AVERAGE GRADE: C+ Copyright © 2001, Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Governing, City & State and Governing.com are trademarks of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.